Supporting means for doors



25, 1931- J. E. SCOTT SUPPORTING MEANS FOR DOORS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 17, 1929 Q I U2, EdWa/TZ 15 005 2? Aug. 25, 1931. J. E. scoTT 1,820,200

SUPPORTING MEANS FOR DOORS Filed July 17, 1929 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 [07272 Edward Q'GO ZZ,

Aug. 25, 1931. J. E. SCOTT SUPPORTING MEANS FOR DOORS Filed July 17, 1929\ 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 fave/aw [Mia Fin a 7'6] Patented Aug. 25, 1931 nit-1m JOHN EDWARID SCOTT, OF DANVILLE, ILLINOIS SUPPORTING IJIEANS FDR DOSES Application filed July 17, 1929. Serial No. 378,868.

This invention relates .to supporting means for doors and its purpose is to provide an improved device for supporting a door on a track or the like and preventing the passage of air andmoisture through or around the door in the region 7 of the support. The principal object of the invention is to provide a supporting device for a door in combination with means for enclosing said device and permitting pivotal movement thereof during the travel of the door. A further object of the invention is to provide a door having a supporting roller arranged to travel 011 a track and having pivotal movement about a vertical axis to permit movement of the door around a curved track, in combination with enclosing means adaptedto move with respect to the body of the door after a predetermined movement of said roller about its pivotal axis. Still another object is to provide a door having a recess in which a sup porting roller is mounted for movement about a verticalaxis to permit movement of the door along a curved track, in combination with pivoted enclosing means mounted on opposite sides of saidroller and retained normally in closed positions parallel to the plane of the door. A further object is to provide a door having a chamber to receive a supporting roller in combination with subdoors pivoted on opposite sides of said door to enclose said roller while permittingpivotal' movement thereof about a vertical axis; Other objects relate to various features of construction and arrangement which will appear more fully hereinafter.

' The nature of the invention will be understood from the following specification taken with the accompanying drawings,' in which two embodiments are illustrated. In the drawings,

Fig. 1 shows a partial front elevation of an airplane hangar equipped with doors embodying the improved supporting means of the present invention;

Fig. 2 shows a partial horizontal section through the construction illustrated in Fig. 1', showing the arrangement of the support ing tracks for permitting movement of the doors to open position parallel to a side wall of the hangar; j a Fig. 3 is a detail vertical section showing the supporting tracks for the rollers secured to the lower parts of the doors and the guideways for controlling the positions and move ments of the upperends of the doors;

Fig. 1' shows an enlarged elevation of a lower corner of one of the doors illustrated in Fig. 1 with parts thereof broken away to show the supporting roller and associated parts;

Fig. 5 shows a partial top plan view of the door illustrated in Fig. 4 after the same has moved to a position along a'curved track requiring the pivotal movement of the supporting roller about its vertical. axis to such a degree that the sub-doors for normally enclosing the roller have been swung outwarcb 1y from the plane of the door;

Fig. 6 shows a side elevation of the lower portion of the door with the parts thereof occupying the positions shown in Fig. 5, and

Fig. 7 shows an end elevation of the lower part of the door equipped with a modified form of means for normally enclosing the roller and permitting the swinging move ment thereof during the travel of the door around acurve in the supporting track.

The invention is illustrated inthe accompanying drawings in connectionwith an airplane hangar 10 comprising a floor 11,'side walls 12, a segmental end wall 13 and a roof 14. A door opening 15 extends across the front of the hangar beneath the segmental wall section 13 and between the side walls 12. This door opening15 is adapted to be closed by a plurality of doors 18 These doors are provided at their bottoms with supporting rollers 20 which are arranged to travel on supporting rails 21 partially embedded in the floor 11, as shown in Fig. 3. The'doors 18 are preferably arranged in two groups, one of which is illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, and each group is arranged to move from closed position to open position alongside one of the side walls 12. Each group of doors preferably comprises three separate sets of doors 18 18 and 18 with an additional hinged door 18- mounted to swing about the door post 12 to a position adjacent the side wall, as illustrated by dotted lines in Fig. 2. In the present embodiment, each set of doors 18 18 and 18 comprises a pair of doors hinged upon each other along their adjacent vertical edges. Two of the supporting rollers 20 are mounted adjacent the lower corners of one door of each pair and a single roller 20 is mounted adjacent the corner of the outerdoor of the same pair so that each door unit is thus supported by three rollers. The doors 18, 18 and 18 are supported on separate tracks 21, 21 and 21, respectively, and these tracks are arranged with parallel parts thereof extending across the .door opening, as shown in Fig. 2, with other parts extending parallel to the adjacent side wall12 and connected to the first mentioned part by curved track sections at the corner of the hangar. Vit'h this arrangement, the doors are permitted to move around the curved track sections at the corner, due to the mounting of the rollers 20 to pivot about vertical axes, as hereinafter described.

The upper ends of the doors 18 are maintained in proper position by guide members 22 which are located above and extend parallel to the track members 21. Three guide members 22 are provided for guiding the doors of two adjacent sets. These guide members are of angle bar form and have their horizontal flanges secured to the outwardly extending parts of brackets 23. These brackets have upwardly extending arms which are secured to the adjacent wall or other'support by means of cap screws 24 and the brackets are reinforced by inclined brace members 25. Longitudinal cleats 26 are secured to the upper sides of the brace members and serve as supports for cover plates 27 which have their upper edges secured to the wall by screws 28 and which have their lower parts 27 directed downwardly to form a hood over the upper ends of the doors. The'upper ends of the doors 18 are provided with rollers 30 mounted to turn about vertical axes on supporting brackets 31 secured to-the upper edges of the doors. This construction is shown in Fig. 3 at a point along the side wall where there are only two tracks and two sets of doors, but the same arrangement is employed where the three track sections 21 21 and2l extend parallel to each other.

Each of the rollers 20 is provided with flanges 2O extending downwardly on opposite sides of the head of its supporting rails 21 and the roller is mounted to rotate about an axle 34 secured between the side plates of a roller frame 35. The roller frame 35 is provided with an upwardly extending spindle 36 which is journaled. in a bearing 37 carried by a bracket 38, so that the roller 20 is permitted to turn about a vertical axis. The bracket 38 is secured to the vertically extending frame members 39 of the door by means of bolts 40 and nuts 41. The frame members 39 are preferably hollow steel members of rectangular cross-.section'and they are united above the bracket by a transverse frame member 42 of similar cross-section which is welded or otherwise secured thereto. The inner and outer sides of the frame members of the door are covered by sheet metal cover plates 43, thus forming a hollow door construction and providing a chamber 44 beneath the frame member 42, in which chamber the bracket 38 and roller 20 are mounted. In order to permit of adjustment of the elevation of the door with respect to the bracket or of a relative adjustment of different edges thereof in order to cause thevertical edges of adjacent doors to close tightly upon each other when in closed position, means are provided for adjustin the spindle 36 vertically in the bearing 3v Thisis accomplished by a threaded adjusting member 45which threadedly engages the internal bore of the hollow spindle 36 and is journaled in a bearing 46 carried by the upper part of the bracket 38. The bracket 38 is provided with an intermediate opening 38 through which access may be had to the hexagonal part 45 which is formed'on the adjusting member 45 to permit rotation thereof by means of a wrench for the purpose of varying the. elevation of the spindle 36. A washer 47 normally has an interlockingjem gagement with the upper end of the spindle 36 and is provided with a tongue engaging a keyway 45 in the member 45. A nut 48 is mounted on the threaded adjusting member 45 to hold the washer47 in its normal position but this nut may be turned upwardly to permit the elevation of the washer 47 out of engagement with the spindle 36, to permit v relative rotation of the member and spindle. These features constitute the invention of Donald E. Willard and aredescribed and claimed in his co-pending application Serial No. 378,865, filed July 17, 1929. r

The present invention is directed more particularly to the combination with thedoor and its supporting roller of means for enclos ing the door supporting means while at the same time permitting the angular movement thereof about a vertical axis, which occurs when the door" and roller pass around a curved track as, for example, the curved track sections at the corner ofthe hangar, as illustrated in Fig. 2. This enclosing means is-illustrated in Figs. 4', 5 and 6 as comprising cover plates or sub-doors 50 formed of sheet metal and secured to the body of the door 18 by hinges 51 These hinges are preferably secured by screws 52 to one of the vertical frame members 39, two ofwhi'ch are over: lapped by the opposite vertical edges of the sub-door 50, as shown in Fig. 4. 'The sub door 50 at one side of the door 18 is hinged on the frame member 39at one side of the chamber 44 and the other sub-door 50/is hinged on the frame member 39 at the other side of the chamber 44 so that the opening edges of the sub-doors are located oppositely, as illustrated in Fig. 5, where the roller 20 is traveling on a curved track and the subdoors 50 have been forced outwardly by engagement with the edge portions 35 of the roller frame 35. The sub-doors 50 are normally retained in closed positions and are retained in contact with the edges of the roller frame 35 when the roller swings beyond the plane of the door 18, by means of coil springs 53 which are attached to the inner sides of the sub-doors, as shown at 54, and which are attached at their other ends to the respective frame members 39 upon which the connected doors are pivoted, as shown at 55. When the door 18 is traveling along a straight track, the springs 53 maintain the sub-doors 50 in closed position, wherein they form substan tial continuations of the sheet metal cover plates 43.

The upper edges of the sub-doors 50 are curved outwardly as shown at 50 to accommodate the bearing 37 at the lower edge of the bracket 38 and these curved portions 56 are adapted to register with similar curved parts 56 which are formed at the lower edges of the auxiliary cover plates 56 which are secured to the bracket 38 by screws-engaging the holes 38 therein. These. auxiliary cover plates 56 form continuations of the cover plates 43 and are made removable in order that access may be had to the adjusting member 45.

Along its lower edge, each sub-door 50 is provided with a depending skirt 57 formed of rubber, canvas, or other suitable flexible material, and arranged to extend downwardly at the side of the head of the sup porting rail 21 to prevent the passage of air or moisture through the opening which is formed between the bottom of the door 18 and the upper edge of the track. A similar depending skirt 58, formed of similar material, is attached to the body of the door 18 to form a continuation of the member 57. These members 57 and 58 are secured in place by cleats 59 and 60, respectively, which are attached to the sub-door 50 and body of the main door by screws 61.

In Fig. 7 of the drawings there is illustrated a modified form of theinvention ac cording to which the sub-doors swing outwardly about horizontal axes, instead of about vertical axes as in the form first described. In the modified. form, the door 62 is supported by flanged rollers 63 arranged to travel on a track 64. The roller 63 is mounted in a roller frame 65 which is arranged to pivot about a vertical axis as in the form of the invention described above, so that when the door 62 travels around a curved track, the roller 63 assumes an inclined position with respect to the body of the door, as

shown in Fig. 7. When the roller 63 assumes this position wherein it projects beyond the side edges of the body of the door,- it moves outwardly the auxiliary cover'plates or sub- .doors 66 which are supported by hinges 67 attached to the body of the door to permit the outward swinging of the sub-doors about horizontal axes. The sub-doors 66 are provided at their lower edges with a flexible skirt 68 secured thereto by cleats 69 and bolts 70 so that a substantially weather-tight joint is formed when the sub-doors 66 are closed. The closing of these doors is. effected automatically by a single spring 71 having'its opposite ends connected to the sub-doors by eye lets 72 and extending through the opening of the bracket which is supported by the roller frame 65. The upper edges of the sub-doors 66 are curved inwardly as shown at 66 so that 1 they extend upwardly on the inner sides of the cover plates 73 which are attached to 0p posite sides of the frame members of the door. With this arrangement, the rollers 63 are protected partially, at least, from the weather when they are in open position and the construction has the further advantage that the sub-doors 66 may be conveniently extended upwardly to the upper end of the chamber in which the roller frame and its bracket are mounted, thus making it unnecessary to employ auxiliary cover plates as in the form described above. It will be understood, however, that the first form of the invention may be modified to have this advantage.

Although certain forms of the invention have been shown and described. by way of illustration, it will be understood that it may be constructed in various other embodiments within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim: V

1. The combination with a door, of'a supporting roller connected to said door and having a swinging-movement about an axis transverse to its axis of rotation, and adjustable means for enclosing said roller and permitting a swinging movement thereof beyond the opposite faces of said door.

2. The combination with a door, of a supporting roller connected to said door and having a swinging movement about an axis transverse to its axis of rotation, and selfadjusting means normally enclosing said roller and adapted to move outwardly to permit said swinging movement of said roller.

3. The combination with a door, of a supporting roller connected to said door and having a swinging movement about an axis transverse to its axis of rotation, and means comprising a sub-door for enclosing said roller, said sub-door being movable outwardly to accommodate the swinging movement of said roller. j

4. Thecombination with a door, of a sup porting roller connected to said door and having a swinging movement about an axis transverse to its axis of rotation, and a pair of sub-doors pivoted on opposite sides of said door to enclose said roller.

5. The combination with a door, of a supporting roller connected to said door and having a swinging movement about an axis transverse to its axis of rotation, a pair of sub-doors pivoted on opposite sides of said door to enclose said roller, and resilient means for normally closing said sub-doors.

6. The combination with a door having a chamber, of a supporting flanged roller mounted in said chamber,a track engaging said flanged roller, means connecting said roller with said door to permit relative movement thereof about a vertical axis, and means normally enclosing the sides of said chamber a and adapted to move outwardly when said relative movement occurs.

7. The combination with a door having a chamber, of a supporting flanged roller mounted in said chamber, a track engaging said flanged roller, means connecting said roller with said door to permit relative movement thereof about a vertical axis, and sub-doors pivoted on said first-named door at opposite sides thereof.

8. The combination with a door having a chamber, of a supporting flanged roller mounted in said chamber, a track engaging said flanged roller, means connecting said roller with said door to permit relative movement thereof about a vertical axis, and sub-doors pivoted on said first-named door at opposite sides thereof and at opposite edges of said chamber.

9. The combination with a door having a chamber, of a supporting flanged roller mounted in said chamber, a track engaging said flanged roller, means connecting said roller with said door to permit relative movement thereofabout a vertical axis, a pair of sub-doors pivoted on opposite sides of said door to enclose said chamber and to swing outwardly when said relative movement occurs, and resilient means mounted in said chamber for normally closing said subdoors. V

10. The combination with a door having a chamber, of a supporting roller mounted in said chamber, means connecting said roller with said door to permit relative pivotal movement thereof about a vertical axis, means comprising a sub-door for normally closing said chamber, a track for supporting' saidroller, and flexible means attached to the edge of said sub-door and overlapping said'track.

11. The combination with a door having a chamber, of a supporting roller mounted in said chamber, means connecting said roller with said door to permit relativepivotal movement thereof about a vertical axis, means comprising a sub-door for normally closing said chamber, a track for supporting said roller, and resilient means extending along the edge of said first-named door and along the edge of said sub-door to overlap JOHN EDWARD soo'r'r. 

